Federal agency decisions, searchable in plain English.
Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) and mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), each with a plain-English summary, the standards it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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Johnson Brass & Machine Foundry, Inc.
Fall and lockout violations affirmed
Johnson Brass operated pit-mounted centrifugal casting machines at its Wisconsin foundry. An employee was seriously injured when his clothing caught on a rotating die while he cleaned it from inside a spinner pit. OSHA cited fall protection, lockout-tagout, training, and machine-guarding violations…
Sofidel America Corp.
Rewinder lockout and training violations affirmed
Sofidel operated a paper-products rewinder at its Circleville, Ohio, facility, where operators routinely entered the machine and used its jogging controls to clear jams. An employee's hand was caught between a moving roller and a guide plate while two employees cleared a jam, causing a degloving…
Commercial Metals Company, d/b/a CMC Steel New Jersey
Mill lockout violations affirmed but willful classification rejected
Commercial Metals Company manufactured steel rebar at its Sayreville, New Jersey, facility. An assistant roller was adjusting a jack behind Mill Stand 7 when the machine unexpectedly energized, pulled him into its spindles, and killed him. The judge found that CMC's established lockout procedure…
Ward Vessel & Exchanger Corporation
Lockout and injury-reporting citations vacated
Ward Vessel used a cord-and-plug plate roller to form metal cylinders at its Texas workshop. A supervisor troubleshooting an energized power problem activated the rollers without clearing the area, pinching an employee's fingertips and causing injuries later classified as amputations. The judge…
Amazing Vitamins, LLC
Reconsideration denied and late contests dismissed
OSHA issued Amazing Vitamins numerous citations arising from inspections of its nutritional-supplement manufacturing facility, including later failure-to-abate and repeat items. The company filed notices of contest long after the 15-working-day deadlines and argued that settlement discussions, mail…
Riverdale Mills Corporation
Lockout items mostly vacated, health items affirmed
Riverdale Mills manufactures coated wire mesh on a long production line at its Massachusetts facility. After an employee suffered a severe arm injury while adjusting moving mesh, OSHA issued safety and health citations involving lockout/tagout, machine guarding, chemical training, and access to…
AJM Packaging Corporation
Lockout/tagout instance vacated
An AJM Packaging adjuster suffered a partial finger amputation when a raised scrap chute fell while he was clearing a paper jam from a paper-product machine. OSHA alleged that lockout/tagout procedures were required to control the chute's stored gravitational energy. The Commission agreed that the…
Timberline Hardwood Floors LLC
Most violations affirmed with $166,265 in penalties
Timberline manufactured hardwood flooring with woodworking machinery at the same facility used by a predecessor company under the same manager. OSHA cited extensive deficiencies involving hearing conservation, hazard communication, exits, fire-extinguisher training, machine guarding, compressed…
Birdsboro Kosher Farms Corp.
Lockout, noise, exit, and PPE citations largely affirmed
Birdsboro Kosher Farms operated a large poultry-processing facility with a history of OSHA citations and settlements addressing lockout/tagout and occupational noise. The judge found that Birdsboro still lacked required machine-specific energy-control procedures, adequate authorized-employee…
FabArc Steel Supply, Inc.
Lockout and forklift violations affirmed
FabArc Steel Supply manufactured fabricated steel products at its Oxford, Alabama facility. OSHA cited the company after an inspection found issues involving fall-protection training, hazardous-energy controls during motor removal, and a forklift operated with a broken horn and fluid leaks. The…
Swisslog Logistics, Inc., and Wal-Mart Stores East, L.P. d/b/a Distribution Center 7019
Lockout citations vacated
A Swisslog employee sustained a serious leg injury when an automated trolley moved while he was working inside Wal-Mart's monorail system. OSHA cited both companies for willfully failing to use documented lockout procedures. The judge found that the lockout standard did not apply because the…
Employment 2000 Corp.
Late-contest dismissal set aside for address error
Employment 2000 filed a late notice of contest after OSHA mailed its citation to an address with an incorrect ZIP code. The same incorrect ZIP code appeared on the Secretary's dismissal motion, the judge's decision, and other case notices, leaving the record unclear whether the company received or…
Matsu Alabama, Inc., d/b/a A Division of Matcor Automotive, Inc.
Press-safety and repeat machine-guarding citations largely affirmed
Matsu Alabama assigned a temporary worker hired as a janitor to operate and load a mechanical press without adequate press training or supervision. A bent crowder-bar safeguard failed to keep him within the light curtain, and the press caused severe amputation injuries to both hands and one…
Alro Steel Corporation
Band-saw lockout citation vacated
OSHA cited Alro Steel after inspecting two band saws at its Toledo, Ohio facility. Employees changing blades turned off the saw, locked a cover over the start button, and kept the key, but did not isolate the machines at the main electrical disconnect. The Secretary argued that relying on control…
American Recycling & Manufacturing Co., Inc.
Broad safety violations affirmed after amputation inspection
American Recycling & Manufacturing produced wood packaging materials and pallets at a Rochester, New York facility. OSHA opened a safety inspection after a twenty-year-old employee's left hand was amputated when a coworker accidentally activated a pop-up saw, then opened a related health inspection…
Peacock Timber Company, Inc.
Lockout, respirator, and noise items affirmed
Peacock Timber operated a seven-employee sawmill in Troy, Alabama. The judge affirmed a serious lockout/tagout item because employees serviced multi-energy-source mill equipment without documented machine-specific procedures. An other-than-serious respirator item was affirmed because employees…
Gestamp Alabama, LLC
Lockout citation vacated for lack of hazard exposure proof
Gestamp Alabama manufactured auto parts with a 400-ton mechanical blanking press at its McCalla facility. Operators periodically entered a fenced scrap area to remove rejected metal, normally using a captive-key system that powered down the press before opening the gate. OSHA observed an operator…
Jacobs Field Services of North America, Inc.
Two process-equipment integrity items affirmed after chemical release
A Jacobs maintenance technician was burned when removing bolts from an actuator assembly released a hazardous chemical from a settling tank at an AkzoNobel plant. The judge held that Jacobs could be responsible as the exposing contractor even though AkzoNobel owned and operated the process. Jacobs…
Jacobs Field Services North America
Four lockout items vacated for lack of knowledge and applicability proof
A Jacobs employee volunteered to help a chemical-plant operator replace a leaking valve, and a flange failure released about 750 pounds of butylene oxide. The Commission agreed that lockout requirements applied to that valve-replacement work because the release caused burns, chemical pneumonia, and…
Spirit AeroSystems, Inc.
Vehicle lockout case reinstated because manuals were not incorporated
A Spirit mechanic was killed when a diesel truck moved after he bypassed starter safety switches while standing in the engine compartment. OSHA alleged that Spirit lacked specific written energy-control procedures for vehicle maintenance, but the judge dismissed the case after the Secretary's…
Basic Grain Products, Inc.
Lockout violations affirmed with one item reduced to serious
Basic Grain Products made snack foods using conveyors, augers, drums, ovens, and packaging equipment at its Ohio facility. Production employees cleaned moving or improperly locked-out machinery without receiving the lockout/tagout training or tools required for employees who perform servicing work…
Crown Cork & Seal USA, Inc.
Press-cleaning violations affirmed and pathogen items vacated
An employee lost a finger while cleaning a running can-end press near the unguarded rear of a pulley. The judge found it reasonably predictable that employees would clean beyond the machine's front because they had done so regularly and were never clearly prohibited from cleaning the rear. Crown…
Loretto-Oswego Residential Health Care Facility
Repeat violations reduced to serious
Loretto-Oswego operated a nursing home affiliated with two other Loretto facilities that had prior final orders for substantially similar violations. The judge treated the related corporations as a single employer and affirmed seven items as repeat. The Commission reversed because the facilities…
Reynolds Packaging KAMA, Inc.
Lockout violations reduced to serious
Reynolds employees entered between sections of plastic-sheet production machines to clean rollers and restart material after production disruptions. The company treated this work as minor servicing and relied on movable aluminum blocks instead of machine-specific lockout procedures. The judge held…
International Diving Services
Five diving safety citations affirmed by default
OSHA cited International Diving Services after a commercial diving inspection inside a 500,000-gallon water tank. The citations alleged failures involving confined-space entry certification, permit verification, hazardous-energy controls, assessment of underwater hazards, and briefing the dive team…
Choice Fabricators, Inc.
Lockout and power-press violations produced $14,000 in penalties
Choice Fabricators manufactured metal parts with mechanical power presses at its Alabama plant. OSHA cited the company for excluding die changes from its lockout/tagout program, improperly using safety blocks, failing to inspect its energy-control procedures, failing to train die-setters, and…
Dierzen-Kewanee Heavy Industries, LTD
Unabated hazards resulted in $133,100 in penalties
Dierzen-Kewanee manufactured dump-truck bodies at a former boiler factory in Illinois. After settling earlier OSHA citations, the company paid only the first penalty installment, did not provide requested abatement information, and left many cited conditions uncorrected for a follow-up inspection…
J.C. Watson Company
Onion packing operations were subject to general-industry standards
J.C. Watson Company grew onions and operated an Idaho facility that cleaned, sorted, graded, packaged, and prepared them for shipment. After an employee's arm was caught under a moving conveyor, OSHA cited the company under numerous general-industry standards. Watson argued that its packing work…
General Motors Corp., CPCG Oklahoma City Plant
Widespread lockout failures produced serious and willful violations
OSHA issued 57 lockout/tagout citation items after a millwright was killed when a motor rail conveyor activated during servicing work at General Motors' Oklahoma City plant. The Commission found that GM did not adequately implement or enforce its energy-control program, conduct the required annual…
St. Lawrence Food Corp., dba Primo Foods
Most dairy-plant health and safety citations affirmed
OSHA conducted health and safety inspections at Primo Foods, a kosher dairy, and cited hazards involving ammonia refrigeration, respirators, confined spaces, chemical training, noise, machine guarding, electrical work, lockout/tagout, powered industrial trucks, and recordkeeping. The ALJ found that…
Burkes Mechanical, Inc.
Conveyor lockout violations affirmed but willful item reduced to serious
Burkes Mechanical employees cleaned debris beneath a running fuel-wood conveyor at a paper mill, and one employee was killed when his arm and shovel became caught between an idler and the belt. The Commission held that both the general lockout/tagout standard and the paper-mill-specific lockout…
Lewis County Dairy Corp.
Widespread safety violations result in $72,750 penalty
OSHA found extensive safety deficiencies at Lewis County Dairy's kosher dairy plant, including missing safety programs, inadequate lockout practices, unguarded equipment, electrical hazards, deficient fall protection, and insufficient hazard communication. Of the 33 serious citation items, the…
Townsend Tree Services Corporation
Testing-area lockout violation affirmed
Townsend Tree Services employees changed blades and a belt on a remote tree trimmer, then energized the machine to test the replacement parts. The foreman moved within three feet of the rotating blades and died after the boom moved and the blades struck him. The judge held that the lockout/tagout…
Sturm Ruger & Co., Pine Tree Castings Division
Targeted inspection and settlements affirmed
OSHA used injury and illness data from Pine Tree Castings to select the handgun-casting facility for a programmed inspection under a nationwide targeting plan. Sturm Ruger challenged the data survey, inspection warrant, discovery rulings, evidence, and subpoenas. The Commission held that OSHA had…
Interstate Brands Corp.
Lockout citations vacated after unforeseeable supervisor error
An Interstate Brands chief engineer lost three fingers after pulling the wrong disconnect levers, failing to apply locks or tags, and reaching into an energized sugar-system rotary valve. Applying Third Circuit precedent, the Commission found that the supervisor's departure from a well-communicated…
The Timken Company
Review vacated after split over traverser hazard
A Timken mechanic lost both feet when a moving traverser's rails meshed with rails beside the teeming car she was repairing. The two participating Commission members agreed that the lockout/tagout standard did not apply because the traverser operated independently of the teeming car. They split on…
Equipment Depot, LTD
Two forklift safety items affirmed after fatal accident
An Equipment Depot field technician died after a Hyster forklift rolled and pinned him against his service truck. The judge found the lockout/tagout standard applicable because the service call included authorized repairs, but concluded that Equipment Depot's combined formal, apprenticeship, and…
Coastal Paving, Inc.
Twenty-three items affirmed after contest withdrawal
OSHA issued Coastal Paving three citations containing 23 serious, willful, and other-than-serious items against its asphalt manufacturing operation. Before the hearing, Coastal withdrew its contest and stated that it was no longer in business, had no employees, and could not refute the Secretary's…
C-Post
Willful lockout and guarding citations cut to serious after a small fence-post maker's amputation injury
C-Post is a small Montana company that makes wooden fence posts and furniture legs from logs, employing about 10 people. After a worker's left hand was severed in a doweler machine, OSHA inspected and issued a long list of serious, willful, repeat, and other-than-serious citations covering…
Gulf Hauling & Construction, Inc.
PPE-training and eyewash items affirmed, most items vacated after a fatal chemical-burn accident
Gulf Hauling & Construction is a family-owned Mobile, Alabama company that hauls paper-processing waste for the International Paper plant. An employee was found on the concrete waste pad in black liquor solids, a caustic material, and died several weeks later from complications of chemical burns…
Worldwide Manufacturing, Inc.
Commission affirms willful and repeat machine-guarding violations and raises the penalties
Worldwide Manufacturing runs a small factory in Berkeley, Missouri that makes collapsible sawhorses, folding tables, and metal legs. OSHA inspected in 1995, cited machine-guarding and lockout/tagout problems, and Worldwide settled by agreeing to fix them. A 1997 follow-up inspection found many of…
S.K. Wellman Friction Company
Press guarding, training, inspection, and lockout items affirmed
An employee lost a fingertip while clearing a frequently jammed turntable on a Toledo 250-ton press. Judge Ann Z. Cook found an obvious unguarded nip point, inadequate operator training before first use, and no documented program of periodic press inspections, although setup personnel performed…
United Erie, Div. of Interstate Chemical Co., Inc.
Confined-space items affirmed as serious
A United Erie production employee died from oxygen deficiency after entering a 4,000-gallon chemical kettle. Judge G. Marvin Bober found that United lacked a site-specific permit-space program, atmospheric testing equipment, adequate attendant practices, entry permits, and complete rescue…
National Envelope Corporation d/b/a New York Envelope Co.
All remaining machine-safety citations vacated
OSHA issued National Envelope Corporation citations after two inspections of its envelope manufacturing plant. One case alleged inadequate training after a machine operator injured a finger while attempting to address a chip-collector problem. Judge Richard DeBenedetto found that the operator had…
Omni Source Corp.
Two contested items vacated after a fatal shredder accident, rest resolved by settlement
Omni Source Corp. runs a metals reclamation yard in Toledo, Ohio, where it operates a large Texas Shredder that shreds automobiles. During routine maintenance on March 19, 1996, the roughly 5,600-pound movable section of the machine's safety cage came off its rails and fell into the mill, injuring…
Ohio Cellular Products Corp.
Machine-guarding citation affirmed after fatal rotating-arm accident
Ohio Cellular Products Corp. molds polyethylene foam sports and automotive padding at a plant in Wauseon, Ohio, using large rotating "Rotocast" ovens. In October 1996 a relief operator was fatally injured when her clothing caught on an oven's rotating mold arm while she unloaded foam. OSHA cited…
IBP, Inc.
Contractor lockout violations affirmed as serious
IBP hired a sanitation contractor to clean meat-processing machinery each night. Contractor employees repeatedly worked on moving or unlocked equipment, and one employee was killed while removing debris from an energized machine. The Commission held IBP responsible even though only contractor…
American Airlines, Inc.
FAA ground-operations manual does not preempt OSHA guardrail and hazard-communication citations after a fatal fall
American Airlines ran an aircraft maintenance and repair facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After a worker fell from the third story of a roughly 27-foot mobile "tail stand" work platform through unguarded floor openings to the ground and died, OSHA inspected and issued citations across two dockets…
General Cutlery Co., Inc.
Knife maker loses on almost every safety and health citation, including a willful hazard-communication violation
General Cutlery makes bayonets and household knives in Fremont, Ohio. After complaint inspections in May 1994, OSHA issued two sets of citations, later consolidated: safety violations (Docket No. 94-2015) and health violations (Docket No. 94-1933). The company, represented by its president, argued…
Murphy Enterprises, Inc., d/b/a Murphy Brothers Exposition
Failed Giant Wheel rope and missing sling inspections yield $10,000
Murphy Brothers Exposition was setting up a 90-foot carnival Ferris wheel in Dallas when a damaged wire rope failed, causing moving wheel components to kill two employees and seriously injure a third employee, whose leg was partially amputated. Administrative Law Judge Stanley M. Schwartz found…
Louisiana-Pacific Company
Sander kickback and repeat lockout failures produce $158,500
Louisiana-Pacific Company operated a particle-board plant where a jammed wide-belt sander ejected a board that struck an employee and caused severe internal injuries. The judge found that kickback was a recognized woodworking hazard and that manufacturer-recommended anti-kickback fingers would…
Amalgamated Sugar Company
Beet receiving station held subject to general-industry standards
Amalgamated Sugar Company operated an Idaho station that received sugar beets from private growers after harvest, then cleaned, conveyed, and stored them for sugar production. The company argued that its station was an agricultural operation exempt from the cited general-industry rules…
General Motors Corporation, Delco Chassis Division
Lockout citations vacated
General Motors employees serviced automated manufacturing equipment without locking out its energy sources, relying instead on interlocked gates, emergency stops, and machine controls. The Commission held that the lockout/tagout standard applied only when unexpected energization, startup, or…
Homestead Gourmet Food Co., Inc.
Settlement approved after hearing
OSHA inspected Homestead Gourmet Food Company's facility in Linden, New Jersey, and issued two citations. The citations alleged six serious violations and five other-than-serious violations under standards addressing exits, personal protective equipment, emergency washing, electrical training…
Art Specialty Company
Lamp manufacturer receives mixed ruling and $5,700 penalty
OSHA cited Art Specialty Company, a 29-employee lamp manufacturer, for numerous serious and other-than-serious conditions. The judge vacated a stairway citation because the Secretary did not prove employees used the stairs, and vacated the metal-shear portion of a machine-guarding item because the…
What these documents are
- Commission decisions: Rulings by the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission itself, the highest level of agency review. These are citable as Commission precedent, though a decision may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance.
- ALJ decisions: Rulings by OSHRC Administrative Law Judges after a hearing. When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j): it binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent in other cases.
- Why finality matters: Every page here says which kind of decision you are reading, so you know whether it is precedent you can cite or a final order that only shows how one judge ruled on one set of facts.
- Where they come from: Every page links the official OSHRC public release, and the full text on the page is that release. The plain-English summaries are written by Ezel.